Iron Maiden
by LetterWolf-A12
Summary: Nara Abbot's life was good. A loving family, nice house, no money issues, until an event changes her life forever. Years afterwards, she still feels the effects. She lives her life guiltily, trying to atone for things that weren't her fault. When she goes on a mission with the Elric Brothers, she realizes that life is worth enjoying while it's there. EdxOC


**Hello! Um.. This is my first FMA fanfic… And the first fanfic I've done in a while… So for a precaution, it might not be very good *winces*. Before reading, I'd like to notify you all of the following.**

**1. I have NOT finished watching FMA, so please don't kill me if I make a mistake and it ends up screwing up the plot of the show/manga**

**2. In order to follow the plot correctly, (at least closely) these chapters should be equivalent to one or two episodes, and I will watch the episode it is placed in so I don't screw anything up.**

**3. If I end up doing something that ends up with plot genocide, please tell me and I will rewrite it.**

**4. Since I watch sub, there might be the occasional use of Japanese words: hai, gomen, nii-san, etc. I am by NO means a speaker of Japanese, I just pick stuff up from fanfiction and anime/manga, so if I spell something wrong or use it out of context, PLEASE tell me and I will fix it :)**

**5. I really appreciate everyone who reads my work, and every single follow or review gives me little tingly feelings inside and makes me want to strangle you all in hugs of death and love.**

Disclaimer: *Al pops up from out of nowhere* "Robyn-san does not own FMA in any way, shape or form."

Prologue

"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one and only truth."

I could still remember it to this day, the images dancing across my eyelids every time I slept at night. Smoke. Flames. The sounds of panic, the red and orange of the raging fire tickling my feet as I ran. Sometimes, other images would visit me. Mist, slowly rising from the circle. The pain where my arm used to be. My blood, splattered across the stone floor. They came to me in flashes, mocking my mistakes.

I still remember that night.. The night that life as I knew it changed forever, setting the course I had made for my life into unknown territory..

*Flashback*

_Something was wrong, horribly wrong, I thought as I threw my childish quilt off of me. Something was not right. The heat was sweltering, even though it was late into November and first snow had fallen just a week ago. A bright light flickered from the crack under the door, and I grabbed the door knob, instantly regretting the choice. Scorching pain infiltrated my hand, leaving bright pink marks over my palms. I rammed my shoulder into the door. It was my only exit, and after realizing what was going on I was determined to get at least Luelle out. The thin wood of the door finally burst, and I stepped out into the raging hallway. I ran to her room, not caring about the pain as I wrenched the door open, gazing across the blazing living space when a faint sound entered my ears. Crying. From the closet. I pulled the door open, pulling the sobbing form of my little cousin into my arms. I sprinted, attempting to disregard the pain in my burnt legs as I ran for our lives with only one thought in mind: Get Luelle out of HERE. As I was about to get down the red hot stairs, a large groaning sound erupted from above us, and I threw my 7 year old cousin down the stairs, hoping she would be okay. The moment I did that, the roof collapsed there. I had moved back in time to save my life, but that was the extent of it. I scrunched my eyes in pain as it erupted in my right hand, blossoming up to my elbow. I wearily opened them, and to my horror, most of what used to be my hand was gone. A mass of ripped and charred flesh hung off my wrist by an inch of skin, bones, and veins that still connected it to my body. I bit my lip, and the taste of iron bursted on my tongue. Tears sprang from my eyes, but I made my way as fast as I could over the mass of rubble that once was part of our roof and ceiling. I stumbled down the stairs, where there was another pile of rubble. I ran out of the house, expecting to see my little Luelle waiting in front of the house. Instead there was nothing. I frantically looked around, a sense of panic and hysteria casting over me._

_'No….. no….. NO. NO! NO!' Was all I could say. That pile of rubble…. It couldn't be… No… _

_I ran back into the house, calling out her name._

_'LUELLE! COME OUT! LUELLE! Please…. It's not funny…. Please, Luelle, Don't leave me.. Come on out! I know you're hiding!' I yelled, but I knew it was in vain. I stepped back slowly, exiting the house while shaking my head, muttering no under my breath._

_After that, everything went black._

*Flashback Over*

There had been only one survivor. Me. And I hated that to this day. Cursed my existence. I remember the day I woke up, days after the event. I recall being confused, when it came back to me. I had lifted my hands-no, _hand-_ to my face, covering my mouth in horror. I looked down at my wrist, to see where my hand had been was only a stump now. I cried.

My parents had died in their sleep, slowly suffocating them as they slept unaware. Luelle's death was from the pile of rubble when it fell. It had broken her neck and back, killing her. At least she didn't feel any pain, I told myself, but it never helped. The cause of the fire was from a cigarette that had lit the curtains, carrying on to the rest of the house. It didn't help that we had the fireplace going, either.

*Flashback*

_I had been living alone for a month now. I had taken control of our family's funds, which I was putting good use to. I lived in a tent now, using piles of quilts and sleeping bags to warm myself while I slept. I worked at a nearby farm making some money helping out people. There wasn't exactly a large variety of jobs to do at 12. I was putting my money towards three things; textbooks, necessary supplies, and the rest I was saving to buy myself some automail; I need two sets of hands to accomplish this. It wasn't going to be the best, but automail was expensive and I needed all the money I could get… Now all I needed was time._

~Time Skip, One Year~

_Everything was perfect, I thought as I finished the circle. I would have Luelle back, and then I could get a good job somewhere, and we could be our own family, I thought as I placed my hands on the circle and a bright light engulfed me._

_It had gone wrong. At first when I saw the form, I thought it had worked. But then I saw it-. A mass of writhing flesh wore my innocent cousin's warped face, making what little food I had eaten for dinner exit my stomach. My cheap automail hand reached over to grasp my arm, only to see nothing was there. My metal hand passed right through the air my left arm had once occupied. I forced myself up, crying in defeat, collapsing outside the area I had worked in._

Chapter One

*This chapter takes place before and during episode 11

I groaned, plopping out of my twin sized bed. My form landed on the wooden floor, automail arm digging into my ribcage. Ouch. I pulled myself up, hobbling into the shower. As I washed, my thoughts drifted. After my failure, I had joined the military at fourteen. Luelle had always admired the state alchemists for some reason. I had lost my left arm, and now had two pieces of machinery added on to my body. Both my metal hands dug into my hair and scrubbed, hoping that in the process my hair wouldn't get tangled in the joints. Even after a year, I had yet to replace my first automail limbs. I guess I had gotten a bit attached to them. After all, I earned my title because of them. Iron Maiden. I found it a bit amusing, to be honest. Combining the way I fought and my metal parts to create my title. I dried myself off and wrapped myself in a towel as I left my bathroom to get dressed.

* * *

I stood in Colonel Mustang's office, waiting for him to look up from his paperwork. I sighed; I couldn't stand him. The Colonel was a bit of a man-whore in my mind, and he just didn't seem like the kind of person that should be in charge of people. But, I guess he did have his moments. Mustang finally looked up.

" Nara, I want you to go on a mission with someone tomorrow." He announced, making my eyebrows scrunch up in wonder. I'd never had to partner with somebody before, so why now?

Suddenly, the door opened, revealing two people. The first one looked to be about my age-15, and his blonde hair was pulled into a braid. His golden eyes stopped at my form and the other figure entered the room with a _creak~_ of metal. A large suit of armor followed the sound, stopping behind the first guy. Mustang smirked.

"Iron Maiden Alchemist, I'd like you to meet the FullMetal Alchemist." He declared.

After all the things I'd heard about him, this was probably the opposite of what I expected. He was- well, he was short, for starters. Probably five one, tops. But, I guess I couldn't really say anything about his height, considering I was at the minuscule height of four ten.

"Well, nice to meet you, I guess? Nara Abbot, Iron Maiden Alchemist." I said awkwardly, scratching the back of my neck. He blinked, his eyes now longer fixated on the air above my head. FullMetal glared at Mustang.

"What's this?! I don't need a partner, you know that!" He said childishly. Hey, that was offensive.

"Well, the place I'm sending you to might be beneficial to both of you.."

* * *

The next day, Edward, Alphonse, and I walked out of the city, heading towards Xenotime. As we sat in the cab to outside the town, I tried to make conversation.

"So, what did Colonel mustang when he said that it would be beneficial to both of us? I can understand how it could help me, but.." I trailed off as Edward took off his right glove, showing me his automail hand.

"That's why." was his short explanation, and I found myself staring at the fine piece of machinery that was his automail hand. Everything was so detailed, it seemed as natural to him as a normal arm. Who was his mechanic?!

"Um, Edward, can I ask you something?I said cautiously. He nodded.

"Uhh… Who the hell is your mechanic and where can I find them? I asked quickly, taking off my gloves. I wore a dark green shirt that's sleeves went to my elbows, and black gloves all the way up to my elbows. I grimaced at my crappy automail hand and arm. His eyes grew wide as he examined my parts. When he was done, he looked at me with an air of certainty.

"Your parts are utter crap" He said, and the beginnings of a new friendship were born.

**Okay, so I know that this chapter/prologue is not long, and just so you know, typically a normal chapter will be around 3 times the length of this. Okay? So don't think that I'm gonna be having short as hell chapters, because those just kill me. These two are short because they're kind of an intro to the story... okay? And- just so you know, NO I AM NOT MAKING A FEMALE VERSION OF ED. There are just some similarities that I did not pick because it made her like Ed. I made the shortness because Most characters I usually make are tall, and I wanted an Oc to be one of the few people shorter than Ed, her house was burned down because that was a good way to make her heave a traumatic experience ( I sounded so evil just then) and she has automail because I wanted it to add some drama/details later anyone who's reading this, thanks for reading! What do you think of Nara so far? Anyways,**

** Ja ne~LetterWolf**


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